While the ZSC Lions and SC Bern celebrate a derby victory, bottom team Ajoie surprises with a strong comeback. These are the facts of Friday's National League round.
Ajoie's astonishing home streak seemed to come to an end against Lugano of all teams. After Calvin Thürkauf scored a power-play goal to make it 3-0 after 35 minutes, the Ticino side looked like certain winners in the Jura. However, Ajoie equalized the score before the second break and staged another comeback after Lugano retook the lead in the 57th minute. Arno Nussbaumer saved the home team with the 4:4 into overtime. There, the 22-year-old forward made Ajoie's fifth home win in a row perfect with his second goal of the evening, turning the arena into a madhouse.
ZSC serene to win the derby
The ZSC Lions are back at the top of the table thanks to their fourth win in a row. In their home game against Kloten, they managed their first win in a Zurich derby in 14 months, even without Denis Malgin, who was ill. Jesper Fröden (6th) and Juho Lammiko (14th) put the champions on the road to victory early on with their goals. After Kloten's goal by Niko Ojamöäkis just 38 seconds into the second period, Sven Andrighetto restored the two-goal lead with his tenth goal of the season in the 36th minute. After that, ZSC's twelfth win in its 13th home game of the season was never in danger again.
Bern derby winner in a game of patience
The second cantonal duel of the evening between Biel and Bern developed into a game of patience. The 6400 spectators in the Biel Arena had to wait until the 49th minute before Finland's Waltteri Merelä scored the first and only goal of the game with his 13th goal of the season. Bern's top scorer this season had only extended his contract this week. However, goalie Philip Wüthrich, who like many others will leave the club at the end of the season, emerged as SCB's match winner. The Bern native, who will move on to Ambri-Piotta, kept the visitors in the game with numerous strong saves.
Yet another Tigers home win in November
At the start of the season, the SCL Tigers spoiled their fans with five home wins in a row. Recently, however, the Langnau team has scored almost exclusively away from home. That changed on Friday with a 4:1 win against Ambri-Piotta. The Tigers laid the foundation for their first home win in 37 days with an early double. Joshua Fahrni (6th) and Phil Baltisberger (7th) scored within 71 seconds to make it 1-0 and 2-0. Thanks to the three points gained, the Emmental side jumped from 11th to 8th place in the league table, while Ambri dropped out of the play-off places.
Servette remain Rappi's opponents to fear
After three recent defeats, the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers were well on their way to getting back on the road to success in their home game against fearsome opponents Genève-Servette. The team from St. Gallen went one goal ahead in the first, second and third periods and also led twice in the penalty shoot-out after a 3-3 draw after 65 minutes - but it wasn't enough. Finland's Oula Palve scored both of his penalties to give Servette their third win in a row. The defeat did not come as a complete surprise to the Lakers, who lost to Geneva for the eighth time in a row.
Fribourg-Gottéron wins again
In contrast to the Lakers, Fribourg-Gottéron returned to winning ways after losing their last three games. Linden Vey was among Fribourg's scorers in the 4-1 home win against Zug for the first time since his signing two weeks ago. The Canadian scored on the power play after 21 minutes to make it 1-0. 24 hours after the 4-0 loss at home to ZSC, Zug was unable to respond. The central Swiss team had started the week so well on Tuesday with a commanding 5-0 home win against Kloten.
Telegrams:
Ajoie - Lugano 5:4 (0:1, 3:2, 1:1, 1:0) n.V.
4543 spectators. - SR Piechaczek (GER)/Hungerbühler, Stalder/Altmann. - Goals: 5th Fazzini (Jesper Peltonen, Arcobello) 0:1. 25th Fazzini (Carr) 0:2. 35th (34:07) Thürkauf (at 5 against 3) 0:3. 36th (35:53) Nättinen (Turkulainen, Bellemare) 1:3. 39th (38:46) Devos (Turkulainen, Honka/at 5 against 3) 2:3. 40th (39:42) Bellemare (Turkulainen, Nättinen/power play goal) 3:3. 43rd Joly (Dahlström) 3:4. 57th Nussbaumer (Nättinen, Scheidegger) 4:4. 61st (60:54) Nussbaumer (Hazen) 5:4. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes each. - PostFinance top scorers: Turkulainen; Joly.
Ajoie: Conz; Honka, Maurer; Nussbaumer, Fey; Minder, Scheidegger; Thiry, Pilet; Hazen, Devos, Veckaktins; Turkulainen, Bellemare, Nättinen; Sopa, Romanenghi, Pedretti; Robin, Garessus, Schmutz.
Lugano: Schlegel; Aebischer, Dahlström; Schultz, Jesper Peltonen; Hausheer, Alatalo; Meile; Zanetti, Zohorna, Marco Müller; Joly, Thürkauf, Canonica; Fazzini, Arcobello, Carr; Aleksi Peltonen, Verboon, Reichle; Cormier.
Remarks: Ajoie without Bozon, Ciaccio, Fischer, Frossard, Patenaude, Rundqvist (all injured) and Brennan (supernumerary foreigner), Lugano without Guerra, Morini, Mirco Müller, van Pottelberghe (all injured), Huska and Sekac (both supernumerary foreigners).
ZSC Lions - Kloten 3:1 (2:0, 1:1, 0:0)
12000 spectators. - SR Stolc (SVK)/Ströbel, Kehrli/Cattaneo. - Goals: 7. Fröden (Lehtonen, Zehnder) 1:0. 14. Lammikko (Fröden, Lehtonen/powerplay goal) 2:0. 21. (20:38) Ojamäki (Audette, Aaltonen) 2:1. 36. Andrighetto (Zehnder) 3:1. - Penalties: 4 times 2 minutes against ZSC Lions, 6 times 2 minutes against Kloten. - PostFinance top scorers: Grant; Aaltonen.
ZSC Lions: Hrubec; Kukan, Geering; Weber, Lehtonen; Kinnunen, Marti; Trutmann; Andrighetto, Grant, Zehnder; Fröden, Lammikko, Olsson; Rohrer, Sigrist, Segafredo; Baltisberger, Baechler, Riedi; Henry.
Kloten: Waeber; Niku, Profico; Grégoire, Wolf; Sidler, Steve Kellenberger; Sataric; Ojamäki, Aaltonen, Audette; Meyer, Morley, Ramel; Simic, Schäppi, Meier; Weibel, Diem, Derungs; Smirnovs.
Remarks: ZSC Lions without Balcers, Hollenstein, Kärki (all injured) and Malgin (sick), Kloten without Steiner (injured). Kloten without goalkeeper from 58:07 to 59:40.
Biel - Bern 0:1 (0:0, 0:0, 0:1)
6436 spectators. - SR Lemelin (USA)/Gerber, Huguet/Gnemmi. - Goal: 49. Merelä (Baumgartner, Klok) 0:1. - Penalties: 1 x 2 minutes against Biel, 4 x 2 minutes against Bern. - PostFinance top scorers: Rajala; Czarnik.
Biel: Säteri; Zryd, Yakovenko; Stampfli, Grossmann; Christe, Blessing; Delémont; Neuenschwander, Heponiemi, Sallinen; Hofer, Müller, Rajala; Livio Christen, Luca Christen, Kneubuehler; Bachofner, Tanner, Schläpfer; Cattin.
Bern: Wüthrich; Untersander, Nemeth; Loeffel, Klok; Vermin, Kindschi; Füllemann; Lehmann, Czarnik, Ejdsell; Merelä, Baumgartner, Kahun; Sablatnig, Bader, Marchon; Schild, Ritzmann, Simon Moser; Graf.
Remarks: Biel without Andersson, Brunner, Burren, Bärtschi, Cunti, Haas and Lööv (all injured), Bern without Kreis, Lindholm, Scherwey (all injured) and Reideborn (supernumerary foreigner). Biel without goalkeeper from 58:30.
Fribourg-Gottéron - Zug 4:1 (0:0, 2:1, 2:0)
9178 spectators. - SR Tscherrig/Hebeisen, Steenstra (CAN)/Francey. - Goals: 21st (20:50) Vey (Gunderson, Wallmark/power play goal) 1:0. 32nd De la Rose (Wallmark, Borgman) 2:0. 38th Bengtsson (Martschini, Herzog/power play goal) 2:1. 47th Marchon (De la Rose, Gunderson) 3:1. 59th Schmid (Bertschy, Vey) 4:1 (into the empty net). - Penalties: 4 times 2 minutes each. - PostFinance top scorers: Wallmark; Vozenilek.
Fribourg-Gottéron: Berra; Gunderson, Jecker; Sutter, Streule; Diaz, Borgman; Seiler; Lilja, Wallmark, Nicolet; Sprunger, De la Rose, Marchon; Bertschy, Vey, Schmid; Dorthe, Walser, Gerber; Etter.
Zug: Simmchen; Muggli, Carlsson; Schlumpf, Tobias Geisser; Bengtsson, Johnson; Mischa Geisser; Wingerli, Kovar, Vozenilek; Simion, Olofsson, Hofmann; Martschini, Senteler, Künzle; Eggenberger, Leuenberger, Herzog; Biasca.
Remarks: Fribourg-Gottéron without Dufner, Rathgeb and Sörensen (all injured), Zug without Balestra, Genoni, Riva, Stadler, Wolf (all injured) and Hansson (supernumerary foreigner). Zug without a goalkeeper from 57:15 to 58:21.
SCL Tigers - Ambri-Piotta 4:1 (2:0, 2:0, 0:1)
5882 spectators. - SR Wiegand/Arpagaus, Humair/Duc. - Goals: 6th (5:08) Fahrni (Allenspach, Malone) 1:0. 7th (6:19) Baltisberger (Julian Schmutz, Kristof) 2:0. 35th (34:23) Saarela (Saarijärvi) 3:0. 35th (34:45) Julian Schmutz (Malone, Saarijärvi/powerplay goal) 4:0. 52nd Bürgler (Pestoni) 4:1. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes each. - PostFinance top scorers: Saarela; Virtanen.
SCL Tigers: Charlin; Zanetti, Riikola; Saarijärvi, Paschoud; Mathys, Baltisberger; Meier; Julian Schmutz, Kristof, Saarela; Rohrbach, Berger, Pesonen; Fahrni, Malone, Allenspach; Petrini, Felcman, Jenni.
Ambri-Piotta: Senn (35. Juvonen); Heed, Pezzullo; Virtanen, Zgraggen; Wüthrich, Isacco Dotti; Zaccheo Dotti; Douay, Landry, Kubalik; DiDomenico, Maillet, De Luca; Bürgler, Kostner, Pestoni; Grassi, Heim, Müller; Zwerger.
Remarks: SCL Tigers without Erni, Guggenheim, Lapinskis, Mäenalanen, Salzgeber (all injured), Flavio Schmutz (sick) and Schwab (suspended), Ambri-Piotta without Curran (injured).
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers - Genève-Servette 3:4 (1:1, 1:0, 1:2, 0:0) n.P.
4380 spectators. - SR Borga/Staudenmann, Schlegel/Bachelut. - Goals: 8. Dünner (Baragano, Moy) 1:0. 15. Manninen (Granlund) 1:1. 30. Holm (Aberg) 2:1. 45. Pouliot (Granlund, Manninen/powerplay goal) 2:2. 54. (53:48) Henauer (Aberg) 3:2. 55. (54:33) Berni (Palve, Mayer) 3:3. - Penalty shootout: Rask -, Manninen -; Taibel -, Spacek -; Jensen 1:0, Granlund 1:1; Dünner -, Praplan -; Moy 2:1, Palve 2:2; Granlund -, Aberg -; Palve 2:3, Jensen -. - Penalties: 3 times 2 minutes against Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, 4 times 2 minutes against Genève-Servette. - PostFinance top scorers: Moy; Manninen.
Rapperswil-Jona Lakers: Punnenovs; Maier, Holm; Baragano, Nardella; Jelovac, Capaul; Henauer; Hofer, Taibel, Alge; Zangger, Moy, Dünner; Wick, Wetter, Hornecker; Aberg, Rask, Jensen; Embacher.
Genève-Servette: Mayer; Vatanen, Le Coultre; Völlmin, Berni; Jacquemet, Karrer; Schneller; Praplan, Manninen, Granlund; Pouliot, Richard, Bertaggia; Miranda, Spacek, Palve; Imesch, Jooris, Cavalleri; Guignard.
Remarks: Rapperswil-Jona Lakers without Albrecht, Djuse, Lammer, Larsson and Strömwall (all injured), Genève-Servette without Chanton, Descloux, Hartikainen, Hischier, Lennström, Loosli, Rod (all injured) and Raanta (supernumerary foreigner).
SDA